JOHNSON CITY (Jan. 30, 2020) – United States Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams visited the campus of East Tennessee State University with U.S. Rep. Dr. Phil Roe on Thursday, Jan. 30, where they hosted a roundtable discussion about opioids.
Approximately 65 university, community, state and federal leaders attended the roundtable discussion, held in ETSU’s Interprofessional Education and Research Center (also known as Building 60) on the VA campus. Adams and Roe were joined on the platform by Dr. Lisa Piercey, commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Health and an alumna of ETSU’s Quillen College of Medicine.
Participants in the roundtable included representatives from law enforcement, health care, government, education and public health. In addition, ETSU Health leaders had the opportunity to meet with Adams while he was on campus.
Adams is the 20th Surgeon General of the United States. As the Surgeon General, Adams holds the rank of Vice Admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. In this capacity, he oversees the operations of approximately 6,500 uniformed health officers who serve in nearly 800 locations around the world, promoting, protecting and advancing the health and safety of our nation.
During his tenure as Surgeon General, Adams has created several initiatives to tackle our nation’s most pressing health issues, including: the opioid epidemic, oral health, and the links between community health and both economic prosperity and national security.
In response to the opioid epidemic, Adams issued the first Surgeon General’s Advisory in thirteen years, urging more Americans to carry naloxone, an FDA-approved medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. While at ETSU, he applauded the university’s naloxone training efforts, including the university’s addition of naloxone in the AED response boxes in all of its resident halls.
Adams also released “Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Spotlight on Opioids,” and a digital postcard calling for a cultural shift in the way Americans think about, talk about, and respond to the opioid crisis. His Surgeon General’s postcard recommends actions that can prevent and treat opioid misuse, and promote recovery.
Adams received bachelor’s degrees in both biochemistry and psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, a master of public health degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and a medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine.